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Welcome to the Nimble Youth podcast, where we provide expert insights and valuable resources for parents navigating the complexities of their children's mental health. We empower parents to nurture healthy minds in children, teens, and young adults through real conversations.
Our team of seasoned professionals, including physicians, therapists and educators, delve into pressing topics, share research-based strategies, and offer practical advice for fostering mental and emotional well-being within your family.
Welcome back to Nimble Youth, the podcast where we explore the emotional lives of children and teens, and provide parents and caregivers with practical insight into helping young people thrive. I'm your host, Matt Butterman. Today's episode is about resilience. In youth mental health, we often talk about barriers, things like anxiety, ADHD, depression, trauma, learning challenges, or chronic illness. These obstacles can sometimes make young people feel like their future is already limited before it's even begun.
Matt (host):But today's guest has built an entire philosophy around the opposite idea. His motto is simple and powerful: No Options. My guest is Ty Gipson, a motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and what he calls a no options expert. After living with juvenile type one diabetes and enduring three organ transplant surgeries along with numerous medical complications, Tai has built a thriving career helping others push through adversity. He has spoken at organizations across the country, collaborated with groups like Donate Life Texas and has been recognized for his impact in the business community.
Matt (host):Ty and I also share something personal. We both live with type one diabetes. That experience of navigating a chronic illness while pursuing professional and personal goals gives us a unique perspective on resilience. Ty, welcome to Nimble Youth.
Ty Gipson:Hey, Matt. Thanks for having me, man. I'm excited to be here. Thank you. And thank you for what you're doing.
Ty Gipson:I told you earlier, but I want to say it again. Thank you for what you're doing because I think this is awesome that you guys are out talking, talking on these topics.
Matt (host):Well, helps everything. And my, my thanks also to, to you for sharing your story because I think every story offers perspective and inspiration in, in, in your case as well. So, so let's start with your story. Many people hear about someone who's gone through multiple organ transplants and assume their life must have been defined by limitations, but your life has taken a very different direction. Can you tell us kind of about your journey living with type one and how it eventually led you to this philosophy you now call No Options?
Ty Gipson:Yeah, I'll, I'll be glad to. Growing up, I grew up down in Southeast Texas. So I mean, where the Louisiana and Texas meet on the coast, that's kind of where I And grew up, I just, I, you know, I grew up, my parents were one of these that, that just dust off, boy, you'll be okay. My dad was kind of that type of father figure. And, and and so I had this mindset of just kind of just pushing through.
Ty Gipson:Right. Just, I mean, I always, I never would tell him if something was wrong because I knew what he was gonna tell me. I, I never really talked about that. And my brother and sister kind of had the same way. And then at the age of eight, I was diagnosed with diabetes, type one diabetes.
Ty Gipson:I'll tell you very well, and I'm gonna age myself a little bit here, but I I'm 56 right now. And so this was in the seventies. So I mean, the technology was not there. Yep. That will, that it's here today.
Ty Gipson:And I'll tell you, I mean, it's amazing to look and see how far technology's come, but at the time I just didn't have, we didn't have the tools and, and I had really brittle diabetes, but I also was a normal, the boy. I mean, I played sports. Was, I was still the kid fishing and hunting and just being a, being a boy. Right?
Matt (host):Right.
Ty Gipson:And so my parents didn't change anything. Now, I mean, I also had my blood sugars bouncing up and down and, and I can't even imagine as a parent now that I have kids thinking, how did my mom and dad know where I was blood sugars were? And they didn't. I mean, it was a lot of, it was a lot of guessing and hoping and praying and everything else that were, it just, every time I talk about it, I can't even imagine, but I, at the age of eight, I just kept going and brittle, I mean, were nights and days that I didn't know if I were gonna, I was gonna get through. I can remember little league football coming off where I felt like my tongue could stick to the side.
Ty Gipson:It just blood sugars through the roof or through the floor. Anyway, at the age of 10, they brought me over to a specialist in Houston that was working on, you know, the insulin pump's been around, but it was, they were working on defining this insulin. And it was a syringe pump that they were using for chemotherapy and they were insulinated in it and trying this thing out. Well, I was one of the ones that there in Houston that got to try this insulin pump, which was really cool. They knew my blood sugar.
Ty Gipson:I had to control this diabetes or I was just really headed down the wrong road.
Matt (host):Right.
Ty Gipson:And so I was put on this, the syringe pump that was a pound nine ounces. It was, it was a brick. I mean, it was a big, big block that I would wear on my wallets. Right. And it's funny growing up in a smaller community, everybody as it says, it takes a village to, and it literally it did.
Ty Gipson:And especially I think any diabetics that's the case. Right.
Matt (host):But it is.
Ty Gipson:Everybody knew me. If they didn't know exactly who I was, they saw that big thing on my side. They knew exactly who it was. Right. And so I wore this pump for years and I, and I, over the years, the pump changed.
Ty Gipson:They, I mean, they were smaller, they got technology and years and years and years of technology. And so I will tell you though, and, and as a kid, then you, you absolutely will. And there's gonna be a lot you relate relate with here,
Matt (host):but mean,
Ty Gipson:I remember going to to birthday parties and things of that nature. And there was, they'd walk in and we were usually a homemade cake and these cupcakes. And back then it was Kool Aid full of sugar. And then there was over on the side, I always like to talk about, there was this one drink and it was usually for me. Right.
Ty Gipson:And it was, if you remember tab,
Matt (host):unfortunately I do. Yes.
Ty Gipson:I don't feel the worst diet soda that I think it's ever been created. I agree. I agree. I tell people similar to drinking like motor oil, maybe, I don't know, but it was. It may
Matt (host):be a water drinker for the rest of my life.
Ty Gipson:Yeah. But there was always that for me. Right. I mean, and, and, and back then the drinks, everything's come a long way. Diets, drink, sugar freeze things that aren't available these days.
Ty Gipson:I mean, that weren't available those days. But anyways, that, those were challenging days. And I, a lot of times, I mean, I didn't, I just didn't feel like I was always part of the group because I wasn't able to do those things. And that was really hard. Know, because I, just because you're told you can't, you absolutely want it.
Ty Gipson:Right? And so that was always a really hard time for me. But I did learn as I got older, why? Right? Because I, I saw the cause and effect type thing.
Ty Gipson:Right? I mean, you, you knew I couldn't do it because I would feel like this. And so as I've got, as I got a little older, I, I, I understood those, but it was, it wasn't that it was easier. But then as you grow as a teenager, I still played sports. I remember coming in and out of the dugouts in between innings and taking my pump and, and, and, and putting in insulin or, or drinking a little bit of orange juice or whatever.
Ty Gipson:I mean, it was, it's about all the time. My mom was always in between innings, checking my blood sugars. Right. Again, fingertips are just purple and, know, it was just a hard time. And I, it was just challenging through those times, but just to kind of complete my story, went through that, went through college.
Ty Gipson:And again, change of lifestyle, sleeping, eating was not good. Doing things I should not do. As a college kid, I'll be the first to say I was I tried and again, cause and effect things. I mean, I shouldn't do it, but I realized later why I shouldn't. And then I thought I would get smarter than the system and I would try them out.
Ty Gipson:That wouldn't work either. So I mean, I really was hit my head trying to, trying to be more like everybody else than anything. And it was, it wasn't because I, I mean, I felt like I just, I wanted to be part of the group, be like everybody else. And that was hard sometimes, but, and then fast forward, I mean, then as a, as a teenager, there was a lot of things. I got out of college and then at the age of 30, I go into the doctor's office in the, in the, and I'm just feeling exhausted.
Ty Gipson:I'm in my career trying to get started. I'm trying to climb that ladder and do all these things. The doctor says, now you have kidney failure. And I, and so I said, okay, as as diabetics, you're used to the hospitals and doctors are like, what does that mean? Let's, let's go.
Ty Gipson:What is it? And he said, no, he said, you, you need a kidney transplant. And I'm like, woah, okay, hold on. What does that, what does that really mean? So we went through those, steps and he said, but here's the problem.
Ty Gipson:You have such brittle diabetes, I don't know that a tran-, just a kidney transplant alone is really what you need, because I feel like if we don't get this diabetes controlled to the best that we can, that you're going to continue to just really tear up these kidneys basically. Right. And, but he said, there is a doctor in Baltimore, Maryland doing some research transplant that they're doing kidney and pancreas together. And so he said, I don't know if you're a candidate, but I would highly recommend this for you. So we go out to Baltimore and sure enough, I'm a candidate.
Ty Gipson:And it's an amazing process, right? We go through all this testing and sure enough, I'm a candidate. And my mother, who was 60 at the time, Ty, I'm a, God's given me two kidneys. And she said, if the doctors say I can donate, then, then I wanna give you my kidney. And sure enough, we tested her.
Ty Gipson:She maxed, which was, was amazing. And then, so as we know, I can get my kidney from my mother, but I have to wait for a deceased donor to receive the pancreas. Right. So I'm getting put on this list. And so during that time, the doctor said, if you don't go on dialysis, because you don't need it, you don't absolutely have to at this point, but as it gets worse, you may need to go on dialysis.
Ty Gipson:And he said, but if you, if you go on dialysis, there's a chance that the likelihood of rejection it raises. And so I was real determined not to go on dialysis. So I would work, I would come home, I would sleep. I mean, go to bed at six. I mean, to try to make it through the day and so on and so on.
Ty Gipson:So it was really hard. Was really hard times. So about eight months of this and right before, it was like a week before I get the call, I go into the doctor and I say, I can't go. I'm, this is it. I need to, so they put the stent in.
Ty Gipson:I'm getting ready for dialysis the following week. Well, Sunday night, the phone rings and it was Baltimore and they said, Hey, we have an organ that matches you and we need to get you mobilized to Baltimore. So my mother, who I'm receiving the kidney from and myself, we take off, we get to Baltimore and it's kinda like the movies. I mean, people hurry her and then you wait, right? Right.
Ty Gipson:A lot of prepping and paperwork and a lot of things, but anyway, a sixteen hour surgery. Wow. So, and I go back because I talk about adversity, Matt, a lot here is there was someone that made a decision to be an organ donor. This is always really hard because it was a tragedy in someone else's world. Right.
Ty Gipson:But because they donated their organ, it it's, it saved my life. And, and I try to, what I love to talk about is on the adversity. On the other side of adversity are some amazing things. Because of that decision somebody made though, I was able to get married. I was able to adopt my second daughter.
Ty Gipson:I was able to open my business. But the problem, the challenge too was that night when I got the call, I left a six year old daughter at home.
Matt (host):Right.
Ty Gipson:And I say that because I had a, I didn't really have an option though, and this is kind of where part of the no options things was developed was I knew I didn't want to live a life on dialysis trying to be there for her. I knew I couldn't really provide if I, if I was in that lifestyle. And so, or it would be more difficult, put it that way. Right. Right.
Ty Gipson:And so I chose to take this surgery and let's hope for the best. Right. Let's, let's go, let's go hope that I can get through this and then be there for her. And so I, I get through the surgery and it was a challenge. I woke up sixteen hours later, my mom sat beside me in recovery.
Ty Gipson:She had had a great recovery and it was really hard. And I'll tell you for the first year, that was the most challenging thing I've ever been through in my life. Sure. But I'll tell you, one of the things was you got two different organs in your body. Your body's trying to now adapt to.
Ty Gipson:I was taking sixty five. Oh gosh. I mean, and that alone, as anybody knows, I mean, body's just going, in the world is this? Right?
Matt (host):Exactly. Right. Yeah.
Ty Gipson:Now to this day, will say I still take thirty a day, thirty plus a day. I'm very thankful for it because that's why I'm here. Right. But, but I, at the time it was really hard. I, but they said, get through the year and you're gonna feel much better.
Ty Gipson:And that year came and I tell you what, I did, I felt like a new, a new beginning, right? All these things. And that, and that go back to what I said earlier, I was able to get married. I was able to adopt all these things after I got through that.
Matt (host):Right. Right.
Ty Gipson:And so as we know, organs don't last forever. Right. So my pancreas lasted twelve years and my kidney lasted twenty. So, so for twelve years I had the pancreas and then twenty, so in, in the, in the twenty year lasted me till, till 2019. So I in 2019, my kidney started to fail again.
Ty Gipson:I immediately went on dialysis because it was just that, at that point I needed to do it. But what, what I'd said earlier was I grew up in where dust off, you'll be okay. So I never really told anybody. I had 45 employees in my company at the time, and they didn't really even know what I was going through because I never shared that. Right.
Ty Gipson:So I would go to dialysis in the mornings between 04:30 to nine, three days a week. And then I'd go to the office and try to try my best to put on this face that I feel okay, I'm gonna be all right. As diabetics, you get really used to having to do because a lot of And times we don't feel so I would go to work, I would do this, I would, again, try to be the leader of the group. And, and, and my wife who was in the business with me was, who has been an amazing part of the business in my life. But, but we, we, we pushed through that.
Ty Gipson:And so my sister was lined up to be an organ donor. She matched me. Well, then right at the end, I came back and said there was something with hers that weren't, wasn't quite right that we, we shouldn't do this. So my wife who said this whole time was an A positive, an O positive type blood type who said, Ty, I'm not gonna sit here and watch you go through this dialysis. It's really just, it's really taken you down.
Ty Gipson:And, and so she said, I wanna go donate my kidney so that in return, somebody else can donate that matches you and get you moved up on the list, which was, I was absolutely thankful for. So she goes in to start the test and she calls me Matt and she's in tears. And I said, what is wrong? And she said, you're not gonna believe this Ty. She's crying.
Ty Gipson:And finally she stopped crying. She says, I match you perfectly. Wow. Wow. And so, I mean, there's so much more to that story, but I, I, but, but about five to six weeks later, she and I were in surgery and I received her kidneys five years ago.
Ty Gipson:And I will tell you, it's been the most amazing five years in my life.
Matt (host):So absolutely.
Ty Gipson:There's a there's things behind that, that I, through that people say, how'd you get through those times? And there's a three step process that I I've come up with Matt, that I wanna share with you. And it's real simple because I can say the mind is powerful and it is. It is a very powerful thing. And as diabetics, I feel like we have to be very, strong minded people to get through Yeah, what we
Matt (host):for sure.
Ty Gipson:I mean, whether it's multiple injections a day, whether it's your, your, your diet, your blood sugar bouncing, your, there's just a lot. And so I think it really creates someone to be a powerful mindset, positive thinker, if you let it. It's up to us, right? It can take you over or you can, you can control this thing. But the step one come that when I go through adversity, I look at is I say, do, am I gonna grow or die?
Ty Gipson:And when I say die, I don't mean death. I mean, like, am I gonna let my goals, my purpose, right, my dreams and grow or die is what we do, but step two is hope or despair. And that's how we think. Am I gonna be, you know, am I gonna be very hopeful or am I gonna be that, you know, kind of play that victim card, right? Where why am I the diabetic?
Ty Gipson:Why did I have to have diabetics? Why did I have to be, build all these multiple transplants? Or, and then, and then step three is humor or drama. And that's how we talk. And when I say talk, sometimes it's our talking to ourselves that we can get through this.
Ty Gipson:We can do this. But also talking to others, just being, we can always find the, Hey, I don't take sixty five pills a day, but I take thirty. And I'm so happy to do that. The little things that we do to help us get through it.
Matt (host):Right.
Ty Gipson:When I say that, those three little things, it's what we do, we think, and we talk. And when we do those things, it aligns into a positive mindset and it helps us get through whatever it is we're dealing with. So those are three little steps, Matt, that I use, and we can use that in any form. I mean, and looking back as a teenager going through those days, man, there were times that I had to power through from a mindset to get through that, right? Playing ball.
Ty Gipson:I mean, I didn't feel like getting off the couch and it was time to, it was time for me to go play a baseball game.
Matt (host):Yeah. Yeah. Well, and that's, I mean, your, your phrase, no options is really powerful. It's a little bit provocative at the same time too, because a lot of people talk about having all these options in life and that's a wonderful thing, but you've kind of flipped that idea on its head. So when you say there are no options, I guess what you're talking about really is the option to fail or to not try is really not an option, right?
Matt (host):Can you tell us a little bit more about how your philosophy there is embodied in how you move forward with life.
Ty Gipson:Yeah, did. I can, you're right. I flipped that over because, you know, when I, if we go into a no option mindset, a lot of times we give ourselves outs. Right. And, and I feel like to, in my mind, I always feel like that, why are we giving ourselves an option to out of the situation?
Ty Gipson:And, and, and, and there are times, you're right, there are options for things and there are good options for things. When we're going through adversity, we don't want the option of not pushing through to be there. And, and that's, when I say no options, it's a no options mindset that we're gonna, we're gonna push through our adversity. Right. And when I, for instance, and I mean, business, when I talked about, oh, I started a business.
Ty Gipson:I mean, I left, I started a business in 2006. In 2008, the financial crisis hit. Right. I mean, and I, I left right. Me and my wife both left corporate jobs, but we looked at each other and said, Hey, no options.
Ty Gipson:We've got to make this, we don't have another option. We've invested basically our savings to make this business work. Right. So we don't give ourselves an out, find a way to make it push through there. And that's where the no options comes in because yeah, it can sound at the the day with a lot of options, but, but what I mean is a mindset.
Ty Gipson:If we go into it with, we're going to get through this, don't let yourself out to find the easy road, right? Don't find the easy road out. Work through it because it's worth the fight. It's worth it. And that's what I talk about.
Ty Gipson:When you push through the no options, on the other side of that adversity is some really amazing things. And that's what, and I talked about that six year old, you talk about amazing things, Matt, that six year old that I left that night, I was able to walk down the aisle last month at her Fantastic. So you're talking about some amazing things to be able to push through. So that's what, I mean, I mean, that just made my whole, my whole effort worth it. So that's the no options kind of mindset that we talk about.
Matt (host):Yeah. Yeah. What you and I share this very, very similar experience. I mean, we're, we're, I'm a month from turning 56, so we're roughly the same age and I developed diabetes when I was four. So just we've had it just about the same amount of time and we were going through our teenage years about roughly the same time and as you were saying technology was compared to today it was the stone ages and you kind of had to go on on feel right, it was a sort of visceral experience.
Matt (host):Nowadays sometimes it's it's a it can be a strength, can I can listen to my body and and kind of understand what's happening to it But there were no CGMs? It wasn't until, I guess, probably we were about 10 or so before we even had like finger sticks and they weren't really that good either. So yeah, it was just a lot of kind of living on a wing in our prayer. But I know for many young people with any kind of chronic illness, whether it's diabetes, any kind of autoimmune condition or mental health challenges, or emotional struggles, you know, they feel different from their peers. They worry about what their future will look like.
Matt (host):So what would you say to a teenager listening right now who maybe feels like their their medical condition or their mental health condition is holding them back? How do you how do you, how do you push through that? Or how do you reconcile yourself with that, your condition?
Ty Gipson:No, I look back on it and I really believe, Matt, that those days, those challenging days in my teen years and my younger years of trying to all that peer pressure and that peer, the different, being rejected or whatever that feels like, I really felt, I feel like that's what built, that's what gave me the strength to push through. And I believe, I, I mean, I've got a deal here that, that, that I have in front of me and it talks about obstacles. They just make, it's just opportunities. Right. And I truly believe that.
Ty Gipson:And I think back on those days where some of these obstacles, I didn't see it at the time, but looking back at it, those things really, really strengthened me to be much better equipped for the path ahead. And so I encourage these, you young people who may be sitting there today going, why me? Kind of, why am I having to deal with this? Why can't I trust me, it's temporary. It's temporary because you're, you are, you are getting stronger, believe it or not, in the minute that, that you're going through this.
Ty Gipson:And it's only equipping you to be more prepared for the road ahead than somebody that may be not going through this.
Matt (host):Yep. Yeah. I remember having a very good doctor, my endocrinologist, one time who, who told me having diabetes may actually be in some ways a blessing because you have to live healthily. You have to take care of your health to survive. And so you're doing all the right things.
Matt (host):And even though you have this condition, this obstacle, it's also sort of opening up opportunities for you. And it's opening up this opportunity to live the way that we all should live, right? That eating the things that we should do and living the way that we should because, because we don't have options really.
Ty Gipson:Agreed. I mean, and that's the thing too. And I think it, looking back on it, it made me a lot more cautious of people. I noticed I can pick up on people that may be struggling And I don't know because I always felt like I was that guy or that I was the one, but I feel like when I go in a room, I feel like to this day, I mean, I'm 56 now. I go into a meeting and a, a networking group, whatever it may be.
Ty Gipson:I feel like I have a sense of people for people that may be not feeling well or going through things. And it, and I feel like that was because of what I went through, man. And I don't know if you ever had that because, because a lot of times, again, think a lot of times I was fearful that I was showing symptoms of not feeling good. I tried to act like I didn't feel bad. And I can pick up on that, I think.
Ty Gipson:And it's been, I think it's made me a better person for that reason. Yep. And more caring for people that may be going through something.
Matt (host):Absolutely. Yeah.
Ty Gipson:And my God, what, mean, I can't think of a more important thing right now in the world we live in to be a more caring person person than we, than trying to.
Matt (host):Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, your own, your own suffering produces empathy, like, like nothing else does really. You're right. Yeah.
Matt (host):So for a lot of the parents listening to the podcast, they're raising children who are struggling, whether it's things with, like things with anxiety, ADHD, depression, kind of learning challenge or health issues like type one diabetes. And I know parents often worry that their child will never find their path. So from your perspective as an entrepreneur, what should parents remember when they're raising a child who faces significant obstacles like these?
Ty Gipson:I mean, I think about this a lot because I have two daughters and it's a really, it's been, it's really flipped the script for me to be able to think as parents, as my parents. My mother is 85 and still with us. And so she and I have some really good conversations a lot about this as I, as I've been parenting my girls. But I would, one, you mentioned that technology has come so far and, and it's, and it's, and it's helping. And I think they're, it's getting better every day.
Ty Gipson:But, and I'm gonna go back to what I talked about a while ago. I feel that our kids, when they unfortunately have to go through some of this, being diabetes, mental, whatever that looks like in, in your world, it's only making them stronger. We're putting, we're putting things, they're going through things right now that's gonna make them so much better moving forward down the road. And, and, and I, and I, I truly believe that. I mean, I deal, I think I deal with things today and, and, and being an entrepreneur and, and being an employee, being whatever that looked like as my career was going on, I truly do look back on my days of, of struggles and go, everybody else in the office is freaking out about it.
Ty Gipson:I'm going, why are we worried about this? Right. Because it, I've been through it and our kids are going through, unfortunately going through things at an early age. But the positive thing is, is it's a quick, it's equipping them to be and preparing them for the path ahead. And I think they're gonna be successful.
Ty Gipson:I would love, I don't know the stats out there, I'd love to look at kids that go through some of these challenges at the youth to see how they succeed in their career path, because I think it's probably higher than we think because we're getting early training.
Matt (host):That's very true. Well, building on from that, I know you spent many years as a motivational speaker and you speak to audiences about persevering, about perseverance and how that has led to success for you. But what do you think separates people who, like yourself, who have overcome adversity from those who can become overwhelmed or consumed by doubts, by the enormity of what they're facing. And I guess my question to you is do you think it's, is it purpose? Is it finding an ultimate purpose for your life?
Matt (host):Do you think that's the key ingredient?
Ty Gipson:Well, purpose is critical. And I do, I truly believe that. Yeah. Purpose your why, find your why, right? I mean, that's kind of the things I live on.
Ty Gipson:I mean, I've got pictures of my daughters and my wife, and sometimes I just got, that's the will, that's what I need to get out of bed and go, but yes, I mean, I think no matter who we are or what we're dealing with, whatever it is, we've gotta have a purpose and a why for us to, to, to take those next steps. Early in my career, I worked at Disney and I, that's where I came out after college. I was, I did an internship there and then I was able to stay there. And I learned so much from the Disney company that, that, that about positivity and experiences and feelings and your surroundings. Right?
Ty Gipson:And I truly believe though that, I mean, positive mindset is, is critical. And, and as far as, and when I say that, we've gotta be able to look in the mirror and just know it's up to us. I mean, we have full control. Our mind is so powerful. And I say this a lot that we, we, we're in control of our destiny.
Ty Gipson:And, but if you don't set your goals and your purpose for that finish line down here, then you're gonna control that. I mean, you're gonna, you're gonna control, you're either gonna grow or you're not. And so I always say big dream and Disney's big about dreams, right? I mean, yeah, dream. Mean, but not only like me, I I'll sit down my goals.
Ty Gipson:I got goals for this week. I write down. I write down the goals for the year, but not only write them down and vision. You gotta vision these goals, right? And I think it's taking that one step forward.
Ty Gipson:And those are the things where that start driving you for that purpose, for that vision, for that dream, because you see yourself there. You gotta get to that spot. So I encourage you as goals, goals are great. And I encourage that. And we talk about goals, goals, goals, but write them down and then visualize them and dream of you being in that spot or being with that situation, whatever your dream and your goal is, dream it and visualize it.
Ty Gipson:And, and it's amazing to me taking that one step forward. And that's something Disney talks about too, as far as experiences and learning. I mean, we, they would form, we had to form visuals of what we felt like the customer experience was or things like that. But I think it really encouraged me to bring that into our own lives and encourage people to visualize where we're going, what we wanna do. Because if we don't have that, we won't take that next step.
Matt (host):I remember reading about, one of their concepts that they called Imagineering, right? Like, I don't know if that was still, as part of their ethic when you, when you worked there, this idea that you think of something and then you develop a way to get there, right? You develop the superstructure underneath it.
Ty Gipson:Yeah, so, I mean, just that concept though of dreaming, dream big, I mean, I know those are big just kinda statements people throw out there, but let's dive into that, right? Dream big. It is, there's a, there's some truth to that. And I, and I encourage people to dream big because everything's temporary. Right.
Ty Gipson:The good and the bad. So, so we, we gotta, you gotta realize that we're not going to be in this situation long. So let's make it the best we can.
Matt (host):Absolutely. So Ty, as, as we wrap up, you know, I keep coming back to that phrase, no options, and it doesn't mean that life is easy and it doesn't mean that obstacles disappear. It just means that when adversity does show up as it inevitably will, we decide that quitting is simply it's not on the table. And so for our parents who are listening today, they're raising children who are struggling perhaps. I think that message can be incredibly powerful.
Matt (host):But before we close, is there one final thought you'd like to leave with our listeners?
Ty Gipson:I always like to say that the world we live in is tough. It's a hard world. I mean, I mean, just, just, just take a look for five minutes and you realize, man, this is a lot. There's a lot of pressures on our kids. There's a lot of pressure on parents of what we do and how we do it.
Ty Gipson:And so what I always say, man, we've got to lock our arms. We gotta put our arms around each other sometimes and just help each other through. And sharing the story, don't be, don't dust it off like my, my dad used to tell me because I think we need to share our stories. I really do. Your story, Matt's story and my story, and we hope it helps people, but your story too will help others that you may not even know about.
Ty Gipson:So I just encourage people to, be kind, let's put our arms around each other. Let's help each other through some of these situations. And I can tell you, share your stories because I think it will be very helpful to someone. And in fact, I know it will.
Matt (host):Yeah. 1000% agree with that. We we need each other to get through this world.
Ty Gipson:So true.
Matt (host):My guest today has been Ty Gipson, motivational speaker, entrepreneur, and the creator of the No Options philosophy. And you can hear more and learn more about Ty and his work at his website, which is www.tygibson,gipson. And if today's conversation inspired you as we hope it certainly did, please share this episode with a friend or family member and don't forget to rate and review Nimble Youth on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your support helps us continue these important conversations about youth resilience and mental health. Until next time, remember the obstacles our children face today do not define their future.
Matt (host):I'm Matt Butterman. This is Nimble Youth. We'll see you next time.